Anna's story
by ATPinky
Summary: This story is about a girl who lost her father who maintained their village. That leaves her with his job. On her adventures she comes across many things.


**Chapter one**

 **Making friends**

This was the first time Anna was really frightened, what does she needs to do if a group of wild mongrels are after her? She'd learned a lot from her dad but that, she didn't. She can still remember that she received a BB gun from her dad for her seventh birthday in order to learn how to shoot so that they could later go on expeditions. He sometimes was days out looking for loot, loot like wonder glue, ductape, usable parts from computers, screws and even cigarettes. Occasionally he utilized the gear himself in order to customize his guns and pistols. Shortly before he was slain by a wacky group of raiders, who by chance found their village, he gave Anna a Pipegun, as he called it, in order to accompany him on expeditions and be able to defend herself if that was necessary. Her mom and she herself were well hidden during the raid and the raiders went away once they had caused enough chaos and had stolen their medicines, food and water. Her dad had wished that she would go on expeditions and maintained their village but it was harder and scarier than she thought.

On her first expedition she found food and water in a grocery store but came across a group of large cockroaches, luckily she got off with a scratch. The few times afterwards she could hardly find any loot and she thought it was probably because she sought to close to her village and her dad had been there. So this time she attempted to go a bit further what led her into this situation. She had left town yesterday morning and that very night she camped outside, which in retrospect was a bad idea. obviously the group of wild mongrels were also searching for food and she was an easy target. Taking shelter in a collapsed and rotten cottage she dreaded for her life until she suddenly heard a couple of shots. After that, silence; no growls from the mongrels, who clearly knew where she was, and no more shooting.

"Hello?" She heard someone calling out. "You're lucky I stopped by." Now she clearly heard that it was a man's voice. Anna was trying to be as quiet as possible, she had learned from her dad that almost no one can be trusted in the Wasteland.

"My name is Aaron and your name is?" The man asked, Anna heard that he was getting closer. Could he know where she was hidden? Is he trustworthy? He introduced himself but he has a rifle or gun, what would she do? Hesitantly she glanced around the corner. She could see a fairly young man looking around, he was playing with the ground and then kicked a pebble away. He looked pretty run down, as if he had been months on the road. Hair down to his shoulders, a few days old beard, dirty clothes, a little mud and scratches on his face and, indeed, a 10mm gun in his right hand. After she had examined him she quietly crawled back and grabbed her Pipegun tightly.

"How do I know I can trust you?" She asked with a clear voice and as tough as possible, hopefully he thought she was a seasoned Wastelander.

"Well, first I helped you out an inconvenient situation, and secondly, I properly introduced myself right?" He answered. After his reply she remained silent, unsure whether she could trust him or not. She eventually decided to give him a chance but nonetheless kept her Pipegun ready. She rose up and walked around the corner, now she stood face to face with the young man Aaron.

"Finally a face that comes with the voice." He said with a cheerful face. "You know you always have to sleep sheltered in the evening if you wish to wake up in the morning?"

"Yeah, but I had no option, I couldn't find a good place." Another lesson learned, stay sheltered at night.

"What is your name pretty face?" He put his 10mm pistol in the holster while he asked Anna and then looked at her from top to toe.

She blushed and didn't know what to say. She tried to shake it of as quickly as possible, he couldn't know that she took that as a compliment and actually liked it. "Anna."

"Fits you." Aaron raised his hand in order to shake hers. She looked at Aaron's hand and nodded no, that was still too risky. "Ok, have it your way. I live 10 minutes away from here, you can spend the night there if you want." He offered while he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Perhaps." Anna replied. Is that a good idea? With someone she just met? What if he's a sly raider?

"We won't hurt you."

 **We!?** He's **not** allone! What now? He hadn't done anything wrong so far but the lessons of her dad, she didn't forget: almost **no one** can be trusted. Anna was still thinking whether she should go or not when Aaron suddenly turned around and started walking.

"Hey, wait!" She shrieked out and quickly ran after him.

* * *

"Where do you live?" Aaron asked after several silent minutes.

"We call it Mayne." Anna answered a little iffy.

"Oh, then you surely know Leon?" Aaron continued asking, not knowing that it was Anna's dad.

"Yes."

"Do you know him well? I met him a few times, once he rescued me from a ghoul who tried to take me down from behind and since then, well we've been scavenging friends." Aaron grinned before he continued. "I havn't seen him in a while actually, has he been sick?"

"No, dead." Anna said without emotion.

Aaron paused before he started talking again. "I'm sorry, he knew what he was doing here in the Wasteland. My condolences girl."

"Thank you."

"A lady of few words I hear. Luckily, I often talk for two. If I might ask, are you the successor to Leon? If so, then you need to very good if you want to top him."

"Yes, I have learned some things from him and there must be someone who brings food, water and medicines to the villagers." Anna dared not to tell that Leon was her dad, maybe it wasn't a smart idea to tell that she's the only one who ventured into the Wasteland.

"Indeed, in my village, I am also one of the few. Ace usually goes along with me on the road but he is expecting a child with his girlfriend Lilly. I'll introduce you tomorrow to them if you'd like. We also have a doctor, Dr. Conrad, maybe he has some medicine for you to take home."

"Thanks, that would be nice." Finally she began to get a little faith in the fact that Aaron and his group weren't so bad as she first thought.

"We're almost there." Aaron pointed to the dim light in the distance.

"How's your village actually called?"

"The Town, I know, very creative huh?" He turned his head toward her and rolled his eyes. For the first time in a long time Anna chuckled.

"Were you on an expedition?" Anna asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah, I just came back. Didn't found any food but i did manage to get a hold of a pocket knife and some other junk." He rapidly shook his backpack up and down making Anna hear something clinking.

* * *

After several minutes of small talk they had finally arrived in The Town. The village was surrounded by walls of old tires, metal plates and boards, tied or screwed to one another. It looked solid enough. Aaron pushed the gate open, here and there it creaked and squeaked. Before Anna walked through the gate she examined the village. So far she saw there were three small cottages on the right, made of wooden planks and metal plates. On the left was a bigger house, a little run down but still livable. Further behind in between the cottages and the large house stood two campers, on one camper they've painted a big red plus sign and the other had shop written on it in blue.

"You gonna stand there all night or do you want me to point you to your sleeping place?" Aaron looked kindly at her with a smile.

"Uhm, sleeping place please." She said like she had a choice.

"Come." He waved and started walking toward the big house. Anne ran after him and looked back at the gate. Now she saw that there were two people next to each side of the gate who pushed the gate shut. They both had scarves covering their mouths and guns. She was shocked and started to doubt again. Maybe they were there to keep people in.

"Who are they?" Anna gripped Aaron's arm to stop him.

"They're Levine and Don, two of the four gatekeepers. They always have night shift, Abby and Terry have the day shift. You don't want those crazy raiders come in while you're asleep or at dinner time." He pointed to the middle of town where there were a few benches around a campfire. He glanced at her, then grabbed her hand and pulled her gently along to the big house. He opened the door and they entered a big open hall with a desk right in the middle. There was a woman in a chair and she immediately looked up when Anna and Aaron entered.

"Good evening, Aaron." The woman saluted him. "Was the scavenging hunt okay?"

"Yes, successful. I found someone." Aaron pulled Anna forward and released her hand. "This is Anna, she's from Mayne. Can she stay here?"

The woman stood up and walked towards them. "Hi Anna my name is Daisy, I'm Aaron's mother, pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you too, what is this building?" Anna looked around interested. The hall was filled with some filing cabinets, a computer on the desk and two grand staircases to the upper floor.

"We use this building as a hotel but behind my desk is the mayor's office, my husband, and the basement is a storage place." Daisy replied.

Anna turned to Aaron and looked at him in surprise. "Your father is the mayor? You got it so well organized, hotel, doctor, shop and mayor. How is that even possible?"

Aaron shrugged his shoulders. "My father found this house with my mom and Conrad 20 years ago. I was only nine and he felt that I needed a good place to grow up. Slowly people lingered such as Terry and Alice, Conrad and Terry built the walls, so that even more people could stay here. Eventually everyone elected my father as the mayor."

"But my dear, it's late. Should I bring you to a room? You don't have to pay because Leon from Mayne is a good friend of ours." Daisy grabbed Anna's shoulders and led her to the stairs.

"Was." Said Anna quietly, without emotion.

"What was?" Asked Daisy.

"Mom, Leon is gone." Aaron replied for Anna with a mournful tone.

"What? How? Oh you poor girl. Did you know him very well?"Daisy hugged Anna tightly.

"Yes, he was my father." Anna replied quietly. Daisy pushed Anna away from her but held Anna's shoulders. She looked her in the eyes, a tear rolled down Anna's cheek.

"Oh, you poor thing." Daisy pulled Anna to her and hugged her tightly.

* * *

The morning after Anna was well rested. After she had washed and dressed herself, she walked into the great hall where she'd met Daisy last night. She wasn't behind the desk, Anna wanted to thank her before she left. She walked outside and in the distance she saw a goat with six legs and a few chickens with two heads, several people at the campfire, the gate was open and there were two other gatekeeper at the gate. A man and woman this time. She didn't saw Aaron anywhere.

"Hello, young lady." She suddenly heard behind her. She startled and turned around, she saw a chubby older man with a suit.

"Hello, sir." She politely greeted the man. Who wears a suit nowadays? Since she's in The Town she saw things she'd have never seen before.

"You're Anna right? Aaron told me about you. I'm Dwayne, the mayor. Nice to meet you. Are you staying long?"

"No, I actually wanted to continue on my expedition." Anna pointed to the gate.

"Yeah, I thought so. Would you like it if Aaron went with you?"

"Doesn't he need to get some rest?"

"He asked if he could go with you himself, if you don't have any problems with it."

"Okay." Anna aproved.

"I'll get him." Dwayne walked past her and the campfire and went inside one of the cottages.

Anna walked to the gate hoping that they could go right away. Would her mother been worried because she's not back yet? She wanted to take something back even if it'll cost her a week, but she's also concerned that the raiders would return. Maybe she could do the same in Mayne as they'd done here, walls and gatekeepers. Or would that be to much for her? Making a good defense, maintaining a village and expeditions. But she has to start somewhere. Lost in thought she didn't noticed Aaron's arrival.

"Hey pretty lady, what're you thinking about?" Aaron said suddenly.

"Oh, nothing special." She answered quickly.

"Ace and Lilly want to meet you and Conrad has some meds ready for you." Aaron waved that she needed to come with him as he walked towards the first house. She actually didn't want to but tought it was rude if she didn't introduced herself so once again she walked after him. Aaron knocked on the door and by the time she was standing next to him the door opened. A young man with short hair and a light stubble beard opened, he had a lightly stained white T-shirt on, long jeans with some small tears and under that heavy army boots half over his jeans.

"Hey mate." The young man greeted Aaron.

"Buddy, this is Anna, Anna, this is Ace." Aaron introduced them to each other.

"Hi girl. Come in, come in." Ace said excitedly as he stepped back and held the door open for them.

"Ladies first." Said Aaron and held up his hands towards the door.

Anna nodded and walked inside, though the cabin was made out of wooden planks and metal plates it looked homey. A sofa and coffee table in the back left corner, a wall in the middle to separate it from the bedroom containing two beds and a homemade cradle with a baby mobile fastened to it, on the right side of her a workbench and a chair with some parts of a rifle and bullets scattered on the workbench, on the left side of her a laundry rack with a sink on the wall and next to that a kitchen counter with a stove and a refrigerator.

"Go sit down." Ace said as he walked past her and flopped on the couch. "Lilly is with Conrad for a check up, she'll be here soon."

Anna sat down beside Ace, Aaron took the chair from the work bench and sat down in front of them.

"And what do you think of The Town?" Ace tapped twice on Anna's shoulder.

"Different from Mayne." Anna replied.

"Ha!" Aaron let out a laugh. "She thinks it's well organized."

"Yes, I was thinking to build walls around Mayne like here." Anna nodded.

"I'll help you." Suddenly Aaron looked very happy. "And I think if Lilly has given birth Ace also wants to help, right?"

"Yeah of course. You know, people like us have to stick together. "Ace sat up straight and hit the on the table with his hand. "We **can not** let the raiders win."

"Thanks, that's very nice of you but I can't expect that from you, we just met." Anna became shy of their helpfulness and she began fidgeting with her fingers.

"Girl, we'd like to help! And you have no idea how many times Leon has helped us out." Ace grabbed Anna's hands. Her hands were so small that one hand from Ace both covered both her hands. In comparison to Aaron and Ace she was small, she was generally small but she didn't got that from a stranger. She got it from her mother and she always said Anna had the character of her dad.

"Anna!" Suddenly there stood a woman in front of her with beautiful long blond hair. "Come, I want to talk to you." The woman grabbed her hand and pulled her outside, it happened so quickly that Anna had no time to respond. She pulled Anna to the campfire and sat down on a bench. Now she saw that the woman had a decent belly, the woman had to be Lilly. "Sit down." She patted her hand beside her on the bench. Anna sat down and looked blushful in front of her, everyone is so friendly and open to her. There was a pause before Anna dared to turn to even cast a glance at Lilly. She had a beautiful pink dress with a ribbon that formed a bow above the belly and lace edges on the sleeves and bottom of the dress.

"I think you know who i am, right?" Lilly said with a huge smile on her face.

"Uhm, yes, Lilly right?" Anna said doubtfully.

"Yes." Lilly grabbed Anna hand and placed it on her belly. "And this is Maya or Chester." Anna felt a light kick from the baby. She was suddenly very excited, she'd never experienced this before.

"Look, this morning Aaron barged into our house and started telling us about last night." Lilly said as Anna was completely stunned by the baby and gently rubbed over Lilly's belly. "I've known him long enough to see that he has a thing for you."

Anna pulled her hand away in shock. "What?" Not that she didn't liked it but it came completely unexpected.

"I'm not saying he's in love." Lilly looked questionable to the sky and then looked at Anna. "He doesn't have much here but he loves adventure and new things."

"Ok." Anna didn't knew what to say.

"I often hear from Ace that Aaron does dangerous things on their hunting trips and he attracts danger. Be careful and watch over him for me, I see that you are a sensible woman." Finally someone who doesn't looks at Anna like a little girl.

* * *

After two hours of walking Aaron and Anna finally came across a large office building, they first explored the area to check if the building wasn't occupied by raiders. They could't find any signs of raiders and decided to enter the office.

"You go ahead to the first floor, I'm gonna look here first, then we go further upstairs together." Aaron pointed upward and then began searching for loot.

Anna walked up the stairs and kept her Pipegun ready in her right hand. It was quiet. She found a cafeteria and immediately rushed over to the refrigerator and found a bottle of water and a can of beans. She didn't know how quickly she wanted to pack the bottle and the can in her bag. She closed the door of the refrigerator and searched the drawers of the kitchen counter. She found a can opener, two forks and three knives. She put everything into her bag and continued with the cabinets above and below the counter. She found half a bottle of detergent, a pack of scouring pads, two cups, a can of soup and a box of cereal. She didn't know if the cereal were still eatable but she took everything. This was the second time she found something. She turned around and saw a figure in front of her, at first she thought it was Aaron but when she looked up she saw a man with a large scar on his left cheek, he had a rolled up cloth around his head and a mohawk.

"Hello there." The man leaned toward her which Anna backed away and was driven into the corner. The man leaned over her with both arms spread against the counter so she couldn't go through. "And what is such a little girl doing here all alone?"

"I'm not alone." Anna said softly in the hope that she would scare him.

"They all say that." Grinned another voice. Anna tried to look under the arms of the man in front of her, she saw two other men but didn't saw their faces. Now she was getting scared, hoping Aaron would quickly go searching for her. She knew she shouldn't count on that so she began to think about what she can do to get rid of the men. Her eyes searched the room, in the corner behind one of the men she noticed a fire extinguisher. She could shoot on it hoping that it would explode and the men would startle.

"Would she taste any good?" The man who stood in front of her leaned his face to hers and rolled the tip of his tongue over her left cheek. She tried to back away as far as she could, it seemed as if her heart was in her throat. The same man took a step back and had a huge creepy grin on his face. Now was her chance, the fire extinguisher. She grabbed her Pipegun as fast as she could and aimed, shoots and hits the extinguisher. First a hissing sound, followed by a deafening bang. The man closest to the fire extinguisher was probably laying on the ground because she could no longer see him, the other two were ducked away. Anna decided to race to the door. She made a sprint, half stumbled over something lying on the ground, ran past the men and raced through the door. Before she could continue running she noticed that something was holding her, she heard two shots and thought she was done for. She sank trough her legs, hung her head and remembered the good times with her parents. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Aaron's voice. "Double headshot!"

"What?" Anna sat up straight and wanted to get up but her legs were too weak causing her to stumble against the wall. She turned around, sat down against the wall and looked up. Aaron turned around facing her.

"Double headshot." Aaron repeated himself and he stepped aside so that Anna could see that the men formed no threat anymore. Blood splatters everywhere and the men were on the floor in a puddle of blood. Suddenly Anna felt sick, she tried to crawl away with her hand over her mouth so she couldn't see the room anymore. She inhaled deeply in and out a few times. Aaron squatted down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. "I didn't know you were gonna be sick of the sight. Well then, you're going to have a difficult time in the wasteland."

"No, no, I just never experienced anything like that before. Maybe I'll get used it, I hope."

"Come on, now we're gonna stay together ok?" Aaron helped Anna up.

"Good idea." Anna said relieved as she walked further along the corridor. "You think there are more?"

"More people?"

"Yes."

"Maybe." Aaron shrugged his shoulders.

The rest of the first floor went smoothly just like the second and third, they found some small things like screws, a couple of soda cans, a pack of paper and a box of pencils. They walked up the stairs to the fourth and last floor, halfway up the stairs Aaron heard some muttering.

"Stay here for a minute." Aaron pushed Anna against the wall and continued up the stairs, he opened the door on the fourth floor and disappeared. Anna grabbed her Pipegun and kept it ready. While she was waiting all sort of scenarios rushed through her head. What if Aaron didn't return? If it were people and they found out that Anna was standing on the stairs, would they want to kill her just like the others in the cafeteria? What if someone suddenly comes in the staircase, what would she do? Maybe they were friendly and they lived here just like Anna and Aaron in their village. She sank trough her legs, looked at the door, then at her Pipegun and pointed it at the door. She was defintely ready for the assault she thought would come. Suddenly the door opened, Anna's heart was pounding in her throat and she expected the worst. Aaron sneaked through the doorway and quickly closed it. He walked down the stairs to Anna and squatted down in front of her.

"Anna, listen, it's a group of four. I think they belong to the three from the first floor. We can take them down if we work together. They have a revolver and a machine gun lying around on a table, one has a baseball bat and the other three have the same gun as I do. If we can take everything with us I only want the machine gun, at home I have bullets for that thing. Do you agree with that?"Aaron looked very serious at Anna and waited for confirmation from her. She trusted him and nodded. "You'll have my back and I yours, you take two and I'll take two. If it fails, hide behind something, there are plenty of desks where you can shelter or hide behind. Ok?"Again Aaron waited for confirmation and Anna nodded again. "Come on, you can do this." Aaron rose and pulled Anna up. He nodded, turned around and walked up the stairs. Anna followed. Aaron squatted in front of the door, Anna did the same. Aaron motioned to her to be quiet before he opened the door. Stealthily they walked through the door, Aaron pointed that Anna had to go to the right while he crawled to the left. Anna did what he said and crawled to the right, she tried to hide behind the desks as much as possible. Little by little they came closer to the group while they kept contact with each other as much as possible. Aaron motioned to Anna that she had to stop because they were close enough but Anna stopped a little to late and tapped against a beer bottle. The bottle started to roll and she overheard the gang talking.

"What was that?" Said a deep voice.

"I see nothing .. Maybe it's Mike and the others?" Said a hoarse female voice.

"It sounded close." The deep voice said again.

"Oh man, you always see and hear ghosts." Said another voice.

Aaron jumped up. "Boo!" He shot a few times and then ducked away, Anna heard some shots directed at Aaron. She gathered all her courage now that the attention of the mob was directed at him and jumped up too. In a flash she saw a man with a bat to close to Aaron's desk and without hasitation she turned and fired twice at him before she ducked away again. She didn't know whether she'd hit him but hoped that she at least distracted him.

"There are two!" Anna heard the hoarse female voice shout out in panic. Anna looked toward Aaron, he smiled and stuck his thumb up at her. He jumped up again and shot several times. Anna also jumped up and in saw in a flash that there were two standing upright. She closed her eyes and began firing blindly in the hope that she would hit something. She heard some shots that weren't hers and kept shooting.

"Anna!" She suddenly heard Aaron call. She stopped shooting and ducked away. She opened her eyes and then looked toward the place where Aaron was. She was startled when he stood in front of her. "It's over." Again he stuck his thumb up, this time with a wink.

* * *

The gate opened and Anna was happy to see some familiar faces after traveling a day and a half. She noticed that dinner was being prepared at the campfire, she actually would rather go eat but she agreed with Aaron to first look at what they had looted and divide it. Aaron immediately went to the main house so Anna followed dispite her hunger. They walked in and Daisy immediately saluted them.

"Hi Aaron and Anna."

"Hey, it was a successful hunt." Aaron kept the machine gun up and gestured with his head to Anna, she was holding the bat.

"Great." Daisy smiled and walked towards them. She gave a key to Aaron and sat back down behind the desk.

"Come, I'll show you the basement." Said Aaron, who was already on his way to a door between the Dwayne's office and the stairs. He put the key in the keyhole and unlocked it. Anna looked inside but only saw a stairway down. Aaron walked downstairs and Anna walked after him again. Once they came downstairs they walked into a room with shelves full of food, spare parts, medicines and lots of pistols, rifles and bullets. Anna also saw a couple of grenades. Aaron put the gun and his bag on a table that stood in the middle of the room.

"Give me your bag , go on ahead and get something to eat. I'll come to you when I've divided everything." Aaron kept his hand up towards Anna's bag. She walked up to him and gave her bag and the bat. She didn't know how fast she wanted to go to the campfire. Anna walked quickly but calmly up the stairs and flew trough the hall without speaking to Daisy. She came by the campfire and saw that Lilly was busy preparing the food. Hopefully it was ready soon because Anna's stomach was already turning and twisting from the fragrance. She sat neatly waiting on a bench.

"Are you so hungry?" Lilly asked as she stirred a large pot. Anna nodded while holding her stomach with her arms to silence the grunting. Lilly smiled and grabbed a bowl, put a spoon in it and filled it with what was in the pot. She sat next to Anna and gave it to her. "Vegetable soup, I hope it tastes good."

"Thank you." Anna couldn't contain herself anymore and immediately began eating.

"How was it?" Lilly asked with a serious look.

"Well, actually pretty fun and .." Anna paused and thought back to the men in the cafeteria and the group on the top floor. "Exciting."

"Nice to hear. No dangerous things happened?"

"No .. Maybe .. I actually don't know, I really never came far enough to encounter raiders or other things. We met a group of raiders in a building, I was alone in the cafeteria and suddenly there were a couple of guys behind me. I didn't hear them come in, but fortunately Aaron was just in time." Anna took a few mouthfuls of soup after telling.

"Was that all? And how do you feel?" Lilly put a hand on Anna's back.

"No, on the top floor of the building there were also a few raiders. I think they belonged tot he same group we encountered in the cafeteria. I had to wait in the hall while Aaron went to investigate and when he came back we went together. I think I have hit a few but I don't know for sure, I had closed my eyes. But, yes, I'm fine. I'm actually glad I had this experience, compared with those raiders, wild mongrels aren't scary." Anna looked at her empty bowl of soup she had eaten under the story, she played a little with the spoon.

"Want some more?" Without waiting for Anna's answer Lilly picked up the bowl and filled it again and gave it back to Anna.

"Thanks!" Anna never found soup tasty but she was so happy to have something in her stomach that she would eat almost everything and well, in the Wasteland you can't be picky she thought.

"You're always welcome to come and eat here for free if you're around." Lilly smiled. "And I think Aaron also would'nt say no to a hunt with you. Maybe Ace will join you soon." She rubbed her belly and began to gloat. Anna saw the love in the face of Lilly and could'nt help it but smile too.


End file.
